I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the relationship between yoga and food. We had quite the conversation in this post – Gluttonasana aka You Got Butter on My Yoga Mat – in relation to an article in the New York Times about those who have a passion for both gourmet food and a hot, sweaty yoga class. I think there are so many other issues regarding food and yoga though – not so much just the ahimsa aspects of eating meat and such, but also issues to the contrary. More like the relationship of food and the yogi body.
How many times have you been sitting in a yoga class and been jealous of the girl next to you in the spandex leggings and tank top who just seems to exemplify the yogic figure? The perfect legs for Warrior 1, or the toned arms needed for forearm balance…
I’m guilty of it too. Sitting, and watching and just wishing I looked that way. Really, Courtney? Of all places! A yoga class…Sheesh.
Living in Paris has really helped me take a closer look at this. As I’ve thought about it over the past week, I’ve come to some realizations about my own practice. I’ve only gotten on the mat two or three times this week for relatively short sessions, 30 or 40 minutes tops, and am beginning to question my motives for even practicing as of late, at least in my time here. I’ve got yoga guilt. You know the feeling – you know you should, but you don’t wanna, so you do a little, but really didn’t want to. Yada, yada, yada.
As I’ve been away from my normal practice, the five or six day a week 90 minute sessions, I have realized how much I relied on my yoga as a means to satisfy another need, one that I’m ashamed to admit. Don’t get me wrong, my practice means so much to me – my life has changed since I took my first class, but I’m suddently aware of another aspect that I’m not so proud of.
It’s like I’ve been treating my practice as a weight gain insurance plan or something, and lately it has felt like more of a punishment for my overindulgent meals, especially this past week (like my three course lunch at La Cameleon, my trip to Le Cordon Bleu, and my cheesy onion soup at La Rotonde).
Tee hee… 
Ooh, and I forgot to mention the gelato I enjoyed in Jardin du Luxembourg the other day with a few friends between classes.
Seriously, who can resist rose shaped gelato!?
Like I said, guilt. The combination of indulgent food, and my lack of a challenging yoga practice have left me feeling well…less than healthy. But punishment? On the yoga mat? Seriously, someone knock some sense into me paleaseeeeeee. Not good. Those two words should just never be in the same sentence.
But the truth is I’ve had some major anxiety about my body, especially in the past few weeks. Recently for class I wrote a paper on body image and the influences our culture has put on “slenderness.” We read a piece by Susan Bordo called Reading the Slender Body that talks about our obsession with aesthetics, the emphasis our culture has put on physical accomplishment, and the unachievable images we see every day in magazines and on TV.
I mean seriously. What’s a girl supposed to think when in the same magazine she comes across an ad for chocolate and an article about women pioneering amazing projects to help other people in third world countries, and then sees an ad for a cellulite removing machine picturing a thin woman with arrows pointing to her apparent flaws just ten pages later…
It used to be that voluptuousness was a sign of health and wealth and was actually a good thing, but early attempts at achieving a slender body can be found in Greek cultures who began to control their appetites as a “means to self-mastery” and Christian cultures who used fasting as a means of coming closer to their God. In the Western world, this emphasis on body manipulation began to develop after the Victorian era when slenderness showed some kind of ability to control your consumption of resources, rather than indulge in them. Slender became the new means of power not just over yourself, but over others as well.
So how did we get where we are today? How do we live in a world where young girls know how to identify words like “fat” and “skinny” before they are even in Kindergarten? It makes me sad when I think about how much pressure there is to look a certain way, and even more sad that I, and so many others, have wasted so much time and energy giving into this idea of what’s acceptable and trying to achieve who even knows what.
Deep down I know that a week of indulgent food isn’t going to hurt. I’m 21, resilient, and living in Paris for God’s sake. This is a very special time in my life and I don’t want to waste it worrying about the softness around my hips or the lack of time I’ve spent saluting the sun. Plus, you only live once. Gotta enjoy it, yes? Still, knowing all of these things, the inner voice continues and I find myself constantly making an effort to silence it.
These are all issues that are really interesting to me. In fact, I find it almost ironic that I have such a passion for all things food – cooking, eating, dining out – but yet still find myself feeling guilty and submitting to the ideals of slenderness that are apparent in everyday life.
I wish I had solutions to offer, and I wish there was a magic button I could press to make that inner voice just disappear for everyone. What I don’t want is for my yoga practice to turn into another method of negative self-manipulation, an attempt to keep my figure looking a certain way.
And I definitely want to enjoy life – every single bite! But I do appreciate this new found awareness of the intentions behind my yoga practice, and the ability to look at things like the ad for cellulite removing machines with a bit of hesitation and resistance.
What are you thoughts? How do you feel about your exercise routine? Is it a a truly health focused venture, or are there certain physical rewards you are seeking? Do you feel pressure to look a certain way, or be a certain shape? Where does the pressure come from and what do you do to ignore those voices?
I’m really interested in your input, and I also want to raise a bit of awareness as to how rampant these thoughts run. I know I’m not the only one…so share your story!
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,and say, sit here, Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine, Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved youall your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.– Derek Walcott
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Excellent post! In my recovery from anorexia, I’ve had to be really careful about my motives with any kind of exercise. I LOVE yoga, but I know I’ve used it in the “wrong” ways before. My motives have been to keep my body in shape, and there are times, I’m afraid to admit, when I haven’t cared about the mental health aspect of yoga, which is why I started doing it in the first place! I use my routine as part of some magic formula to keep my body “in check.” Lately, I really just enjoy my practice for what it is. I just have to be aware of my intentions. Do I want to be at peace with my body, or have flat abs? If I’m really honest, there are times when I’m more vain than I’d like to be, though logic tells me the flat abs is so meaningless in the grand scheme. If I find that I’m straying toward that self-pressure, I just stop my routine for a while. I did this recently and remembered why I really do love yoga. I missed it, for the right reasons. I appreciate your honesty about this because there are lots of yogis (and just general exercisers) who hide some body insecurities behind a mission for “health.” In our culture, it’s usually more complicated than that.
this is a great post, and totally applicable to my life! it’s so important to understand why we want the things we want…
i’ve recently figured out that my desire to lose weight no longer comes form social pressure, but rather from me just wanting to feel at home in my body. after i got married i gained about 30-40 pounds, and have since been trying to lose it. i never really thought about why until recently, and that’s when i figured out that i just want to feel good about dressing nicely so my husband could take me on dates! i just didn’t feel OK with the way i looked, but more importantly the way i FELT, when we were going out. so i’ve taken the steps to start eating well and work out more consistently, and the weight has started to drop! my biggest goal is not to reach a certain number, but to simply live my life and be thankful for it every step of the way :)
again, i love this post!
I LOVED THIS POST COURTNEY! it was honest and genuine! In a way its sad that we all know that we are not alone in going to workout or to a yoga class and looking over wishing you were as skinny as the girl next to us….but its also a relief to know we are not alone in that crazy thinking! Ya know? We also need to realize things have to change. we should teach ourselves and our children to exercise to be/stay healthy. Eat to be/stay healthy. And also, we need to learn the importance of balance. It’s so important to rest when our bodies tell us to rest and to indulge in sweet good food once in awhile.
I’m sad that you feel guilty while eating the luxurious foods of Paris! Youre living a beautiful life and your yoga mat will be there for you when you leave Paris…the luxurious food wont!!! I hope the rest of your stay you eat what you want and do yoga when you want! :)
The reasons why I work out definitely have to do with vanity; I want to look good and to be able to counteract my sweet tooth. I feel I do have to look a certain way, but I think I put this pressure on myself because of how I used to be. Back in middle school, I was slightly over weight…and sometimes my 23 year old self can’t see that I’m not that 14 year old anymore. I’m also rather competitive and WANT to look good.
But over the past 2 years I’ve also begun working out more for how I feel. After 4 months of doing practically nothing, I’ve begun working out again and already see my mood and outlook changing. I like the peace of mind that jogging, cycling, swimming, yoga brings to my life….I might not be a marathoner or a yogi who will ever practice for 90 min every day….but it’s so important for my mental and physical health. Even the littlest bit makes me happier.
So I don’t think I completely ignore those voices….but more reasonable ones have definitely come into existence and now I’d say i work out for about 70% health reasons, 30 % vanity reasons.
I could go on…but I think this post is rambling and I’m in charge of making dinner tonight so I have to go hustle! But great question, and I love living vicariously through your paris photos.
WOW! Just wow!!
It’s as if you read my mind and put this post up just for me!!
I recently skipped a few Yoga Sessions exactly because I caught myself thinking about how much calories I would burn there!! That is something I definitely don’t want!! Especially with yoga!!
Acutally I had this “problem” with my Ballet and Jazz classes in the past! And after realizing (and hurting my calf) that I had to just stop going to the class! I don’t want to turn my passion into something unhealthy!! I’m in the process to start loving my dance again!! Of course the calorie-burning is in my back-mind, but that’s ok! As long as I enjoy the class and am not just doing it to burn the dessert I devoured the day before (or whenever!)!
So thanks sooooo much for this post!! I’m so glad to know that I’m not alone!!
Oh and maybe we’ll see each other soon…. I’m expecting your mail (or message on my phone!)!
I really appreciate this post. It also really saddens me that we, as a society, feel this burning desire to be thin. It is truly an issue and though I don’t have answers either, i think it is up to all of us as individuals to not fully succumb to this absurd ideal
You are really on a roll! In the course of two days you’ve cause me to reflect deeply on issues very close to my heart, and have been able put a new ’spin’ so to speak on what I already though about these issues, made me view things in a new light. Thank you so much for writing such in-depth and well-thought reflections on issues that women–and yogis and foodies–care about and ought to spend more time thinking and talking about.
I always think that I don’t have a “runner body.” By most standards, I’m slim, but I don’t have super toned calves or an especially flat stomach. I wonder if when people see me running, they think it’s just a joke or that it’s something I’m only doing as part of a diet. I do my very best of making these thoughts pass quickly and focus on the fact that I only I know who I truly am, and that my body is the last thing that reflects that. I think that I run partly for the way it allows me to stay slim while pretty much eating what I want, but mostly I do it because of the stress it relieves and the energy that it gives me. Everyone struggles with these things. Don’t think you’re alone or that it’s wrong for thoughts like these to come to you. :)
This was such a refreshing post, thank you. As someone who just put on five pounds despite no drastic changes in my lifestyle, it was really nice to read this. I’ve had the same anxiety, guilt, and obsession about feeling less than physically stellar and not exercising as vigorously.
I’d like to say that I exercise purely for health, but I would be lying if I said there wasn’t a healthy smattering of vanity tossed into my fitness regimen. If I go two straight days without physical activity, the guilt starts to creep in…and I just get down. While I’ve grown to accept my curves as I’ve gotten older, I do the same thing when I’m in a yoga class or a gym. I’ll covet some other petite chick’s figure and curse my voluptous one. Then, I remember that true beauty stems from a happy, healthy, and confident person. I have to remind myself of this often, but it is the overpowering truth…despite what ridiculous airbrushed magazine photos may try to suggest!
This is a wonderful post. I just did light 30 min. of yoga, after a dinner larger than my usual. I have the hardest time dealing with exercise guilt, and thinking how I constantly over eat, which I objectivly don’t really do. I did 30 min. and not more, because I didn’t want to. This was perfect, and to go further would just be punishing myself for eating that bread for dinner. I did it so many times before, and now, I just think it’s enough.
There you go again, with your honest, genuine posts that keep me coming back intrigued, time after time. =D You hit the nail on the head this time Courtney- I know EXACTLY what you are feeling.
I struggled with disordered eating for many years, and even though I feel as though I am free from that now, I have my moments- we all do. I am living my dream- going to CULINARY SCHOOL in a big city, with an incredible multicultural selection of foods everywhere I look, and many times it is free! (In school, at least!). Yet I am wracked with guilt, many times, about the food I am consuming- either the amount of fat, or the amount of food in general. Even though I know I am now a healthy weight, I am not thin like I used to be. I am softer, I don’t exercise as vigorously… but I am happy. Still, even happy, I often long to be my former thin self. But is being thin really an adequate substitute for being happy? I don’t think so. But I have to remind myself of it every day. That even though I weigh a few more pounds than I used to, I am having the time of my life, eating amazing food, and living and loving life as I have never lived life before.
I struggle with running, because even though I used to LOVE running, nowadays I feel like running will only be, like you said about yoga, “weight maintenance insurance”. I do yoga to feel strong and free in my body, so I still frequently turn to that for exercise… but I love running as well, and it is hard to see it now as something I do for fun and for health as opposed to something just to burn calories.
I am the same way as you- I LOVE food. Fresh, wholesome food of all sorts- steaming bowls of cheesy french onion soup (We made an authentic version today in class and it was faaaabulous if you want the recipe, let me know!), as well as big hearty bowls of veggies and quinoa, chocolate and tofu. It is truly my passion. The guilt and my pressure comes from within myself- no one else, usually. It is the unrealistic ideals of a perfect diet I set for myself that stress me out- and they shouldn’t. As long as I am happy, and healthy, exercising for fun and health and eating well, but not too much… life is good. I need to remind myself of this, every day.
Thanks so much Courtney, I really needed this post today.
xo
Kris
Hey girlie,
You’re definitely not alone in this- not only from the others who have commented, but me, if you’ve ever read my “about me.” That’s why now I’m doing my independent study to try to combat this notion of a thin ideal in the fashion industry. It sounds easy, but honestly the only truth I’ve found to get over it is to just let go. Let go of the plans and just be. Obviously we all have bad days, but if you just accept life for what it is and who you are, everyone around you will too. And a secret? That “thin” girl is probably thinking the same things as you are.
In the meantime, soak up Paris. You might not be on the yoga mat, but I’m sure you’re walking a lot, which is exercise in itself. Take care of you and everything will fall into place <3
great post! i studied abroad last spring in australia, and while they dont have quite as good food as they do in france, they do have some pretty unique options. i cant even tell you how many times i didn’t go to a certain restaurant or order a certain dish because i was scared of the calorie/fat/whatever content in the food. looking back now, i regret it so so so so so much. when is the next time im gonna be over in oz?! who knows. i should have listened to my instincts and ordered what i was craving and what i wanted to eat, instead of saying no because i was scared of gaining weight. i applaud you for eating whatever you want in france, because you’re right – we’re young, and whens the next time this is ever gonna happen again? we’re gonna have our whole lives to exercise and take that weight off, but who knows when we are going to have that experience again. so go ahead…eat whatever and if you can, fit in a good yoga practice or two, but only if you are feelin it :)
Hi Courtney!
Oh my goodness, I completely, 100 % relate to your post. I recently discovered your blog, and I really enjoy reading your posts about Paris, yoga, and food! I too am a food loving, yoga obbessed college kid. Last year, I spend the semester in Rome and went through the exact same thing you’re going through now: guilt about eating more (delicious!) foods and exercising a lot less.
I hate how much guilt consumes me and my friends. It’s there after days of not going to yoga, it’s there when I’ve enjoyed a nice big meal, its there wayyy too much! One thing I’ve found really helping is trying to accept my eating/weight fluctuations more. After days of not going to yoga, I’ve realized part of my hesitancy to go back is knowing I’ll be more aware of my curvier figure, bloat, or whatever annoying body phobia I’m going through at the movement! It’s almost a fear of facing my changed self. Soo, I always try and remind myself how happy yoga makes me no matter what shape I am :)
That being said, la joie de vivre is très important! I’ve enjoyed following your Paris posts and hope to comment more! Thinking about starting my own blog as well.
Ciao!
- julia
I’m glad you’re putting this out there! I don’t know what my thoughts are on the situation b/c I want to be able to turn off that inner voice. I used to exercise out of guilt but now I do it c/c of the strength and feeling of accomplishment after.
You are definitely not alone. A lotbof why I workout is for physical looks. It’s hard not to succomb to that desire, no matter how easy it is to say we just want to be healthy inside. It’s almost innate now to want to look a certain way or eat a certain way. It’s the perfectionist inside, for me. I love that you’re talking about this. Though I also know that talking about it doesn’t fix things, it keeps us aware. Aware of the time we’re spending getting down on ourselves for thinking a certain way. Thanks for being so honest, Courtney.
I know that i am definitely guilty of using yoga as a means to get a body that i want….but i also know that without it my body wouldn’t feel as good as it does.
I really do wish that those sorts of thoughts would just run away from humans’ minds!
Hi Courtney
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and finally this post makes me want to write you a few lines. As the previous comments have all pointed out, you talk about some issues in these last couple of posts from Paris to which soooo many girls can relate – and so do I. I’ve always had a messed-up relationship with food and exercise and still try to find my way through life balancing both: my love for good food and the need to feel comfortable and healthy in my body.
What strikes me about many of your Paris posts is that you keep emphasising that you don’t feel about your time there as you think you SHOULD feel. You think that you’re somehow not ‘allowed’ to be preoccupied with your body or eating habits while you’re there. I know exactly what you mean, and have experienced thinking the same way myself while being away during my studies, but I think – and this is my thought for you – it is wrong to think that way, and it won’t make you enjoy Paris more if you try to block out a big part of what and who you are. You don’t have to feel guilty about sometimes NOT enjoying every minute in Paris – that’s life!! The thing is, no matter where you are, you take your body-related issues with you. And no matter where you are, you need to confront these, probably on a daily basis.
I also think the way you write about loving food (and enjoying foof in Paris) and not being as keen on Yoga as you used to (and worrying about your changing body) could be a warning sign. Of course how you feel and think about that could also be the beginning of a new relationship to food and exercise, a more relaxed more maybe, but it could also be a sign that your life has become a bit unbalanced in Paris, because you don’t have the routine you had at home. And I think particularly with food and exercise, it’s all about the balance – and feeling good! I have the feeling that you don’t feel comfortable in your body right now, and not only because of pictures of lean women in the magazines, but also because you don’t balance all the heavy food you eat with exercise/Yoga which of course also helps to maintain the feeling of connectedness with your own body.
So, these were just a few thoughts….as I said I can totally relate to what you write out of my own being-abroad experience, and I sincerely hope that you find a way to become happy (again) with your body and your relationship to food. Continue to enjoy Paris (but don’t beat yourself up if you can’t every day :-) ).
Ok, I’m not entirely sure I’m comfortable writing this but your post has inspired me and I’m going to push forward and just go for it.
So I’m a recovering Anorexic. I’ve been in recovery for just over one year now. I was controlled by Anorexia for the last 4-5 years before that. Since I was 13 years old! When I think about it, that’s actually kinda sick. You see, I was in boarding school, an all boys boarding school, where the pressure to be skinny or even slim or toned, at the age of 13, was non-existent. No one cared. It didn’t start off as a body image thing, it was a thing where I would restrict and push myself to a limit that I knew I was the only one who could. I could go without eating for days! But I couldn’t see it as Anorexia. I don’t think I even knew what Anorexia was at 13! Anyway it eventually became something that I used as proof of how hard I’ve tried, like a good grade. In the last year, everyone in my life has been trying so hard to ‘lower my grade’. Or at least that’s what Anorexia tells me. Where am I going with this? Ok speed up. Basically a year ago I would have said ‘The skinnier a person is, the more fashionable they are’ because I pay way too much attention to fashion and the media. Then I started paying attention to people like Scarlett Johanssen (sp?) and Beyonce and Lady Gaga and thought: they look much better than Victoria Beckham and Paris Hilton. And they look happier! And they are more successful! And they have nothing that is not as good as them! Ok I don’t know why I pay attention to women’s figures. I don’t want to look like a woman and I’m not gay. Its just that women’s figures are paid a lot more attention to and so they’re the ones that are analyzed. Ugh. This is rambling. Basically, I know skinny girls and I know healthy girls. I know, no bias here, the healthy girls are the ones that laugh, that go out, that have friends, that enjoy life. The skinny girls worry about everything and try so hard to be what they’re not. I wish I could be healthy and love it. I wish I paid no attention to my body. The problem is, I can’t. Too many habits have been adopted. I love the look of a healthy person. There is a glow that they have. And besides, if you’re hungry, why wouldn’t you eat? Do your biology homework! You’re hungry for a reason! (wish I could practice what I preach) Ugh, sorry about this. I’m struggling with body image at the moment and this was a little difficult to write. I hope others agree because SKINNY IS NOT HAPPY!!!
I’ve just started practicing yoga religiously (31 days for March!) and I find that it helps centre me and makes me feel thankful for this body, this vehicle I’ve been given to carry myself through life. It’s been making me realize that I spend so much time working out just for the benefits of weight loss that I don’t stop to think about what my body is actually doing. Like running: I ran my longest run the other day, 7.2 miles, and for once I actually thought how thankful I am for this powerful body. A body I’ve worked so that it CAN run that far, when before I had trouble going a slow quarter mile. Now, bringing yoga into the picture, it’s helping me make my body the best it can be. And if weight comes off, then so be it! I am enjoying myself and loving this spiritual practice. It’s helping me realize that putting in a DVD workout I don’t necessarily enjoy (sorry, Jillian) might not be the best way to enjoy my time here. If I enjoy yoga, I should practice it. If I enjoy running, I should run. If I ate too much at a meal and don’t WANT to work out, then I shouldn’t feel obligated to. I’ve spent so much time getting my body to where it is right now that I don’t want to waste time doing things that keep making me feel like I’m not worth this body. I’m happy to say that yoga is teaching me to love myself a lot more than I have in the past, and in turn it’s helping me be more compassionate to others and live my life day by day thankful for this gift.
As for the girls in the magazines, I’ve taken the stand that we really don’t know what’s going on in their body. Yes, they may be stick thin, but they may also smoke like a chimney, eat tons of garbage, and not work out at all. And it WILL catch up with them at some point.
Enjoy your time in Paris. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Do your yoga practice to centre yourself, to ground yourself, not as a punishment for eating one too many gelatos (and a rose petal shaped one WOULD be hard to pass up!). Be thankful that you’re in such a beautiful city with such amazing food and then use your yoga practice to enhance that thankfulness.
We only have one life. We’re given one body on this earth. While we have to treat it well with diet and exercise (while NOT overdoing either), we also have to treat it well with foods that taste good and rest. Life is just way too short not to do this!
xx
K
Chere Courtney,
I left California and my regular yoga practice (of 15 years) about 5 months ago to live in Paris so my daughter could finish high school there (I am MUCH older than you) I’m impressed you do 40 minute yoga sessions at home (if I get in 10 minutes of stretches daily – to keep my hips fluid – I’m doin’ well) And what I find most interesting is that I’ve lost 10 lbs since moving here! I walk everywhere, take the stairs and eat everything! 10 lbs… the same 10lbs I struggled to loose (but couldn’t) back in Ca. How is this possible?
At this moment I am in California. I’ve eaten a big salad (with no ham or cheese) today and am perfectly happy. I’ve been attending yoga during my stay and am looking forward to my class tomorrow – because I know that in 2 weeks I’ll be back in Paris eating like I never eat here, and walking again… it is a different practice, but it’s yoga – because yoga is not only about what happens on the mat.
The body image thing is so tough. I have struggled with it (still do) and am watching my beautiful 16 year old daughter struggle with being ‘big’ (5′8″ & 160 lbs) in a city filled with small women.
This is an interesting question for women of all ages. Thank you for asking it.
Marie
Hey Courtney,
I just recently discovered your blog an now I find myself checking your posts everyday, I think your fantastic! I am also a yoga and food LOVER from Australia, but in the past I suffered from very disordered eating and only in the past 4 months I have recovered. One day I just realised how much time I spent each day thinking about how I looked, how much I’ve eaten, how I need to be thinner, how I should skip dinner cos I ate a whole sandwich for lunch (ridiculous I know). I naturally have a thin figure but still craved to be thinner, I would look at girls who were bigger than me in yoga class and wish I had their body. I admired their strength, fitness and overall glowing health. I have a fuller figure now and have never been happier I practice yoga because it makes me feel healthy and strong and ALIVE. It doesn’t matter what size you are – If you feel healthy and feel good then thats how other people see you. The world looks at you, how you look at yourself.
Just from reading a few of your posts I see you as a beautiful, healthy young woman with a very strong sense of self.
All the best :)
Bec
delighted to find another paris blogger!
a bientot
the paris food blague
Courtney – what an amazingly honest post. I definitely struggle with vanity, honoring my body, and feeding my hunger. I’ve noticed in particular with my marathon training – I am hungry pretty much all the time. When I went to my parents house for Christmas – my mother made a comment about my increased hunger – and for the rest of the trip I was more conscious about my how much I ate – even though my body was craving more food & I was running 35 – 40 miles a week I didn’t want my mom to think I was over-eating. When I got back home, I realized how out of line my reaction was (and her comment) and I had to honor my hunger – maybe not with ice cream and snacks but with good wholesome food.
Live up your time in Paris!
Great post Courtney, once again.
I can in some ways relate to it as I started last month an evening course which will last until June. That means two evenings a week and a whole Saturday for classes, which means I havé fewer days to practice yoga or go to the gym. And it has been a big deal for
me lately.
It is sad because this course is great and I need to do this for my future projects, it is for a good cause ;-) but I can’t practice yoga as much because a) no time and b) I’m tired! I still have to understand that it’s ok and I don’t have to worry about gaining a few pounds just because I exercice less, I have plans and projects to work towards and we’re talking about our lives, there should be no room for workout/yoga guilt!
Next week instead of 2 evenings it will be 3, and on Saturday my boyfriend and I are going to Paris (yay!) for yet another project we’ve had ever since we met, and I have to accept
that yoga will have to take the back seat for a while, and try not to feel guilty for “doing less”
Thank you for being a real person! I love your blog and have been reading it for the last month or so, and I’m so glad there is a yoga blog by a person who is still real and has hang ups. No matter how strong or smart we are, it seems so hard to silence those voices in your head that tell you that you should look a certain way. My method is to try and remind myself that my body is not to be looked at, or is not an accessory, but is to allow me to continue on my journey of life in the most full way possible. It usually works, but sometimes I’m weak… doesn’t stop me from enjoying my chocolate though!
BTW, you are gorgeous, and certainly have nothing to be envious of.
Thanks for that Courtney.
I originally began reading your blog a few months ago when a link from another favourite blog brought me to you as I was preparing a trip to Paris myself. I love to cook and eat, I practise yoga (for several years now), and I especially love the photographs you post. So after my return from Paris I continued following your blog.
I noticed you don’t have a man’s perspective in the comments for such an important post, so I felt compelled to comment. I’m only one man, so I won’t speak for my gender, yet my experience has been that most men have the same perspective as do I when it comes to women’s health and their bodies. There is nothing more beautiful than a healthy, vibrant woman who enjoys life. It’s sexy when she eats well, when she is active, and when she is happy. I feel sad when I see unrealistic portrayals of beauty that girls and women are bombarded with daily. Men see them too and begin to expect that sort of standard when seeking a prospective mate. We all know the ads are skewed, that life is not like that, not for 99.99% of the population anyway.
Eat well. Enjoy yourself. Find joy and peace in your yoga.
You are beautiful and inspiring.
Tony,
What a kind and uplifting comment – Thank you so much!